Australian Open’s ‘party court’ is so loud that a match goes to a different arena

MELBOURNE, Australia – The raucous fans on the Australian Open’s so-called “party court” — a venue equipped with a bar — grew so loud that a nearby match was moved to another field.

“When I saw the bar, I thought it was going to be a pretty exciting atmosphere,” said Jacob Fearnley, 23, of Scotland, who played college tennis at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, and won the competition. Loud-as-can-be court 6. “Usually they go together – a bar and an exciting atmosphere.”

During his 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Arthur Cajax, the noise was spilling over to adjacent Court 8, where Spain’s Alejandro Davidovic Fokina was opening the match in the 29th. Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliasime is the pick.

There were chants, chants, shouts, clapping and footsteps. So at 4-3 in the first set, Davidovic spoke to the chair umpire about what was going on with Fokina and Auger-Aliassime.

The chair umpire called the tournament supervisor and the game was delayed more than 15 minutes.

Finally, the crowd was told: “Ladies and gentlemen, the match has now been suspended on this court and will move to Court 7 in just a few minutes.” And the two players packed up and headed to the new site, where Davidovich Fokina completed his comeback win 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

The two-tiered bar on Court 6 was introduced last year and, while popular with spectators, has met with divided opinion from players.

Fearnley, who plays No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the third round, said he eventually got used to the way the place felt.

“As I settled into the match, I blocked as much as I could,” Fearnley said. “Obviously there were some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere. Amazing atmosphere.”